Denis Shapovalov (24, ATP 16) celebrates a hard-fought opening victory at the tournament in Rome (7: 6, 3: 6, 6: 3), but allows himself a bad freak.
In the second set, “Shapo” is 3: 4 behind and tries to equalize with his own serve. At 40:40 the Canadian’s second service lands on the line, his opponent Lorenzo Sonego (26, ATP 28) warps the forehand. The Italian immediately complained to the chair umpire Richard Haigh that the ball was off the line. The referee looks at the mark and agrees with the Italian. Double fault Shapovalov, break point Sonego. Now the trouble begins.
Climbed over the net – a no-go!
The Canadian storms to the net and desperately tries to tell the referee that he looked at the wrong mark earlier. The 24-year-old even jumps over the net and shows the game master what is supposed to be the correct imprint. In vain. Instead, Shapovalov receives his second warning. Players are prohibited from going to the other side of the net.
So there is a free point for Sonego, the break to 3:5 is a fact. Shapovalov no longer understands the world: «I showed you the marking. I didn’t do anything unsportsmanlike. How can you take a point off me for that?” Haigh cannot be persuaded. ‘That’s stupid. That’s unfair, »says Shapovalov.
“Shut up”
He then wants to speak to the supervisor who monitors the game from outside. But even in this discussion, Shapovalov is not heard. Now comes the verbal derailment: During the conversation, the viewers ask the world number 14 to continue playing. “Shut up,” is Shapovalov’s reply, to the whistles and boos of the Italian fans.
Luckily for him he didn’t get a third warning, which would have cost him the next game and consequently the second set. Irrelevant, because Sonego bags the second round just a few minutes later.
In the end, Shapovalov can celebrate about entering the second round. But with his affront he has probably lost some sympathy points with the Italian audience. (che)
